Stay With Me - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 20

It was an hour later that Miles had to head to class, leaving DJ and Kath alone but they decided to wait until after lunch to start reading. He knew not to make anything too big because it would give Kath stomach pains if it was too much in one go, so he made a sandwich and put a bag of chips on the plate in case she was still hungry after the sandwich and he made the same for himself, filling two glasses with juice. He was careful carrying the tray back to Miles's dorm room, not wanting to run into any of her dormmates and risk any suspicion. He didn't care if he got into trouble and he knew Miles didn't care either - they didn't want to get caught because they didn't want Kath to get kicked out and have to go back to the streets.

"I'm back!" He announced, setting the tray on the nightstand but his eyes widened when he saw what Kath was doing - she had an old envelope in her lap and she was doodling on it with a pencil that had been lying on the nightstand from when Richard would keep track of her medically whilst she recovered, making notes of it that were still in a file on Miles's desk. "You can draw?"

"You don't have to sound so surprised." Kath teased, looking up at him and he sat in the seat by the bed, leaning over so he could see it more, how effortlessly she shaded the owl she'd been drawing. "Everybody threw out paper - newspapers, envelopes, napkins... they leave pens everywhere too, so I needed something to do to fill my day... I used to draw people in the park - walking their dogs, pushing their kids on the swings... I always thought I could make money by doing portraits or something, but I could never save enough money for the supplies and I'm not that great."

"Kath, that owl is incredible." DJ said honestly - he had no idea how she managed to do the eyes so perfectly, and she'd drawn it all in under ten minutes as he made lunch for them both. "You can totally make a living being an artist." DJ said and Kath cracked a smile, but it was a shy and nervous smile.

"What do you want to do when you're finished University, then? The world is your oyster... more than it'll ever be for me anyway." She breathed, her eyes on her drawing as she kept going with it.

"I make a bit of money online, I make videos."

"For real?" DJ smiled at the surprise in her voice, she was impressed.

"Yeah, I play video games - got a decent following and it's growing nicely, so that's good. I haven't uploaded much since we found you, though... been too busy worrying about you." DJ admitted and Kath smiled shyly, looking over at him.

"You worry about me?"

"Of course I do, you psycho." DJ chuckled as she blushed more and he went to hand her the plate of her lunch to encourage her to eat when there was a knock on the door. Kath's eyes were instantly wide - it wouldn't be Miles, Amanda or Richard since as they'd just let themselves in. "Stay here." He ordered and Kath nodded, staying completely still out of pure fear she'd make a noise and get DJ into trouble. He rushed out of the room and to the door, opening it and he vaguely recognized one of Miles's dormmates.

"Hey! Is Miles here?" She asked.

"No, she's in class... she said I could hang here because I'm sick, she's been taking care of me." DJ said, before pretending to cough.

"Oh, I just could have sworn I heard a girl's voice..."

"I'm Skyping my Mom... I'll let Miles know you dropped by." DJ said, before shutting the door and he rushed to Kath, his eyes wide when he saw her out of bed. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving! I can't do this - you're gonna get caught and in trouble and I'm not gonna be the reason you've wasted everything!"

"No! NO! Kath!" DJ rushed after her as she ran to the door, every move she made making her side burn with pain but she kept fighting to get to the door. She yelped as DJ grabbed her and she was instantly struggling in his grasp, but he was always careful not to be too rough with her as to cause her pain. "Kath, stop! You can't just leave! You don't have anywhere to go!" He urged.

"I don't care! You're not throwing your lives away because of me! Let go!" Kath struggled, shoving his arms off of her and she went to throw open the door but DJ slammed his hands either side of her, trapping her against the wood of the door and she stared at him with wide eyes, her back pressed against the door, both of them breathing heavily.

"I can't lose you, Kathryn." He breathed, a few tears instantly falling down Kath's face.

Their lips crashed together in a deep, heated kiss - neither knew who started it but they didn't care. They didn't want it to end.

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